Designer Stefano Pilati Discusses the Future of Menswear

When Ermenegildo Zegna sought to change his company's profile, he turned to former YSL designer Stefano Pilati. With his debut collection, Pilati reflects on the future of menswear and finding a new creative home

By

Louise Neri

Updated Oct. 13, 2013 6:56 p.m. ET

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MASTER OF THE HOUSE | Pilati with his dog, Bepi, in his Berlin studio. The painting is his own from the late '90s.
Photography by Nan Goldin

FOR ANYONE FORTUNATE enough to know how it feels to wear Stefano Pilati's drop-dead elegant clothes, the news that the distinguished designer—equal parts tailoring and tattoos—is once again exerting his subtle influence on the fashion world is welcome news. Hardly had the dust settled on his departure from YSL last year when Ermenegildo Zegna, a giant of the luxury textile industry, courted him to design both menswear and the company's ready-to-wear women's line, Agnona.

With his extensive firsthand experience in Italian fashion (from Cerruti, where he made his first apprenticeship at the age of 18, to Armani, Prada and Gucci), his passion for luxury fabrics as the building blocks of fashion and his burning curiosity for all things new, Pilati is poised to transform the venerable, century-old Italian fashion house through what CEO Gildo Zegna describes as a "fast-forward approach to menswear," shaped by "the apparent contradiction between industry and savoir faire."

Several months into the job, with his first collections for Zegna Couture drawing praise, Pilati discusses with his friend and occasional collaborator Louise Neri (a director at Gagosian gallery) how he came to this phase of his career and what it means to return to his roots from a new place he calls home.

Louise Neri: You left YSL in 2012. How did you prepare for your reentry into fashion?

Stefano Pilati: First, I had to decide whether I wanted to continue with fashion or not. I took some time off, traveled around Europe; I decided to move from Paris. I planned to find another city, where I would like to live. But in the end, a lot of my time off was spent negotiating the proposal from Zegna.

LN: Was it difficult for you to take a sabbatical?

SP: In fashion you are constantly under pressure to be on the pulse, and as the pulse gets faster and faster, you need to grab it and be ahead. So time off can't really be entertained. But I did take nine months off—at least physically speaking—which allowed me to think about the possibilities while planning my new life, to plan ahead in a broader way, without an immediate deadline. What was good is that I moved away from an epicenter of fashion, to Berlin, a city where fashion is just not that present.

LN: Looking back, was that a deliberate choice? Or did it just happen?

SP: Both. The convergence of circumstances made me pay attention to a certain city—Berlin—and while that was happening I discovered that it was important for me not to feel so much under the pressure of fashion, as I did in Paris. There, just walking from home to the office I was bombarded by changing shop windows, new collection arrivals—it was never a relaxed walk! Berlin is not like that at all.

LN: In recent years Berlin has meant the same for many international visual artists who visit from abroad for residencies and end up staying because there is less market heat and noise; it offers peace and calm, as well as large affordable spaces.

SP: Same for me. Recently I returned from a trip to London, and I realized that even the architectural aspects of Berlin that I don't like do, in fact, reflect my own time. Paris, New York, London and Milan are seductive historical cities, whereas Berlin has been virtually rebuilt during my lifetime. This is totally new for me; when I walk around, I am not seduced or weighed down by the past. Now I look forward.

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BOYS TO MEN | Several looks from Pilati's debut collection for Zegna Couture. 'Men have become more and more body-conscious,' Pilati says, 'and that consciousness is exercised in a closely defined silhouette.'

LN: What made you decide to locate your new studio in Berlin, far from the Zegna headquarters in Milan?

SP: This is a whole different approach. I can be far from the Zegna headquarters and yet it works very well. Zegna's platform is really solid, unlike my previous job, where I had to put everything in place and therefore had to be present physically all the time. Zegna has a highly effective machine, a logistical structure that is trained to work in such a way that I can come straight in with my ideas and begin directing.

LN: Can you describe your studio?

SP: For the first time in my life, I have my own work/live studio. It is a beautiful old building. The studio is on the ground floor; I am living temporarily on the first floor, and I am building a modern penthouse on the roof. Each day I literally jump out of bed, take a shower, have breakfast and start work. This dynamic is totally new for me. I like it because everything becomes very personal and close. I am surrounded by my own vibe. The first floor houses my archive. When I left Paris, I ended a 30-year period during which I had accumulated a lot of clothes. I ended up with a vast wardrobe for every kind of category, so I needed the space to store everything.

LN: So it's a working archive?

SP: Very much so. It's my wardrobe, so I can take anything out and wear it, getting inspiration from clothes that I made, acquired or were prototypes. There are clothes I bought when I was 16.

LN: Critics remarked that your first Zegna collection epitomized a new, more relaxed approach to menswear. How does Zegna as a brand—and your redesign of it—reflect contemporary men's needs?

SP: Zegna couture reflects a luxurious lifestyle. I've always pushed the feeling of being at ease with masculine vanity. Journalists reduced this idea to dandyism, which I consider outdated. Long before my engagement with Zegna, I sensed this new potential in menswear. It was important that my first collection project an easy language. Before I even put the show together, I asked myself how I could make Zegna distinctive in this evolving landscape. I wanted to emphasize a studied nonchalance in dressing up for men.

LN: How consciously did you infuse your own personal aesthetic into your first collection?

SP: Because of the feedback I get, I know that my personal style can have resonance in the market. The "broken suit" and "after six" are all part of how I choose to dress. I have a big and very colorful wardrobe. From this I can put together many looks in different ways. A large wardrobe is a luxury, so the use of color was in itself an indicator of luxury, a gesture of ease. This was my main way of making the brand distinctive. The idea of the "broken suit" comes more or less from the same concept. The height of chic is to take a jacket from one suit and pants from another, where the shades perfectly match and it looks like a suit, but it reveals a personality that is a bit different. It is formal, original, classic and, at the same time, shows that you have possibilities and status.

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Pilati in his studio
Photography by Nan Goldin

LN: What did Gildo think you could do for Zegna?

SP: He wanted to upgrade Zegna to a fashion brand. Zegna is an institution of textile manufacturing worldwide. It is a very safe place for men to buy quality menswear characterized by a lack of excess—formal, but not too old, and not too young either. They did a great job diversifying in other categories, such as Zegna Sport and Z Zegna, with lower prices and broader fashion appeal, and the flagship brand, Ermenegildo Zegna. Then three years ago they began doing fashion shows to grab attention in the fashion world. It was successful to a certain extent. At that point Gildo wanted to upgrade the company's image.

LN: Gildo Zegna has said that his company aspires to be a global brand. How will you attune the company profile to a global market?

SP: I'm responsible for the image of Ermenegildo Zegna via the new Couture line, which is 90 percent made by hand. Couture contemplates different categories—not just suits but also outerwear, knitwear, shoes, bags and so on. But Couture will influence all the other labels by tuning and aligning the logistical, creative aspect of the entire brand. Zegna has never had a creative director with a broad vision. So my direction will help transform it from a service brand into a fashion brand.

LN: What is it like to try and steer Zegna toward your point of view?

SP: I find Zegna, with Gildo at its head, to be extremely open; they desired a collaboration with someone who could challenge their position. But my vision for Zegna is not to make a revolution; I admire what they have already done, and I remain interested in evolving what they have begun. The first collection did just that, giving my personal touch while maintaining and highlighting its established codes.

LN: You've said that "a man should still look like a man, a woman should still look like a woman, and the codes are the same as 20, 30, 40 years ago." In your past collections for men and women, masculine and feminine signifiers were in constant interplay. How does that manifest itself in your menswear collection?

SP: I'm addressing my fashion to a certain audience, to men—as opposed to boys—who interact with a certain professional world that is much larger than the fashion world. Men have become more and more body-conscious, and that consciousness is exercised in a closely defined silhouette. Whereas women can be body-conscious while maintaining a more fluid silhouette; the body can be visible through loose, transparent or floating fabric. We don't find this in menswear. I am intrigued by this and how to express it in classic menswear. It's an attitude to dressing up that can be more feminine, less strict. Having said that, I'm not about to start advocating skirts for men!

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Stefano Pilati
Photography by Nan Goldin

LN: What are some of your signature features?

SP: Shoes without laces. Jacket sleeves without buttons. In this case, I curve the cuff to avoid the need for buttons. Additionally this allows for the jacket to be individually tailored by the customer. A lapel that's not too large, not too small, but a neutral hybrid that still looks elegant. Classic shirts like Polo shirts, but still with the perfect defining collar; scarves because they can totally change the style of a person. And big overcoats, which I love because they are comfortable and have a fluid silhouette, dramatic volume and great presence.

LN: You are an expatriate Italian, a cosmopolitan rather than a nationalist; does this create an attraction between you and Zegna, a quintessential Italian brand?

SP: Definitely. I said I would never return to Italy, and they accepted it. Being away allows me greater objectivity about Italian style, which Zegna typifies. My style is classic but original and eclectic. I pick up from all kinds of influences and put them together in my own way. I think my profile, my characteristics and my design are seductive to them. It feels logical to us to be working together.

LN: What excites you most about working with Zegna?

SP: I am one of the only designers today who has a huge company with such vast competence and skills behind him. Zegna can do anything. However, the company is so big that sometimes making a move is like moving a mountain and requires a lot of energy. At the same time, they are so open-minded and curious. In the area of fabric technology, being huge means that it is difficult to push research and development too far. Having said that, they are super avant-garde in terms of new techniques of evolving natural fibers with enhancing components.

LN: You also have a long history in textile R&D.

SP: Zegna was one of the first factories I visited when I was an 18-year-old novice—I joked with them recently that they didn't remember me as a kid, but I remember them! And in all my past jobs, I frequently used Zegna fabrics. When I accepted this role, I visited the Zegna factory and the archive even before I visited the headquarters, and it was so striking that I told Gildo I wanted to have my office there.

This first impression inspired a short film for the first show—the enormous power I felt there, the organization, the machines (which formed the basis for a sort of ballet mecanique and the musical score), and the workers dedicated to these natural fibers. I wanted to visually juxtapose the machine with artisanal savoir faire to show how the two come together in the contemporary vision of Zegna.

LN: What is your relationship to contemporary art?

SP: Since the age of 18 I have had a keen interest in contemporary art, beginning with the Italian Arte Povera movement. When I started working at Prada, the company was already creating its own art programs, while the general interest in contemporary art was climbing to new levels internationally. As a person with a keen visual sensibility, I have always surrounded myself with the art and objects of my time, from works by Matthew Barney,Andy Warhol,Rosemarie Trockel and Richard Serra, to bespoke furniture by designers such as Martino Gamper and Andrea Branzi.

LN: Do you consider fashion designers to be artists?

SP: Not really. My clothes live in a space, a moment, a time. Ultimately what interests me is that you wear them, you feel them, you look at yourself, and that process transmits a sense of aesthetic usefulness and elegance.

Having said that, in the process of moving I came across some of my own paintings, and suddenly they seem interesting to me again. When I made them in 1998, I was at a crossroads in my career. In the end, as I was already highly skilled and experienced in fashion and untrained in art, I chose to stay where I was. But looking at these paintings now, I'm reminded of how I felt at the time, that they provided me with a space of pure process and sensation where I could directly express myself. That's a powerful feeling!

I get mixed up in fashion by drinking while traveling and reading too much of WSJ fashion. I ended up at a KKK meeting with my expensive shoes without socks and a tie dyed robe thanks to having my laundry done in Haight Ashbury. The Carhartt hood and my Rainbow placard saying FLY NAVY really got me into trouble.

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